Tawau Airport
| Tawau Airport Lapangan Terbang Tawau |
|
|---|---|
|
|
| Characteristics | |
| ICAO code | WBKW |
| IATA code | TWU |
| Coordinates | |
| Height above MSL | 17 m (56 ft ) |
| Transport links | |
| Distance from the city center | 27 km east of Tawau |
| Basic data | |
| opening | 2001 |
| operator | Malaysia Airports SDN BHD |
| Terminals | 1 |
| Passengers | 660,331 (2006) |
| Air freight | 3132 t (2006) |
| Flight movements |
9215 (2006) |
| Start-and runway | |
| 06/24 | 2682 m × 47 m asphalt |
The Tawau Airport (engl. Tawau Airport , IATA code : TWU, ICAO code : WBKW) is the airport of the Malaysian city of Tawau , in the state of Sabah on the island of Borneo .
Today's airport replaced the old airfield in the city of Tawau in 2001. Around one million passengers are handled annually. After Kota Kinabalu Airport , Tawau is the second largest airport in Sabah.
In addition to the two main Malaysian airlines Malaysia Airlines and AirAsia , only a few airlines serve Tawau Airport. In mid-2007 there were no flight connections abroad.
The only passenger building is equipped with two passenger boarding bridges . Up to seven narrow-body aircraft can park at the same time on the apron .
history
In 1968 the first airfield in Tawau started operations only about three kilometers from the city center. Former Transport Minister Tan Sri Haji Sardon inaugurated the airfield, which was only designed for planes up to the size of a Fokker 50 with a runway only 2.2 kilometers long .
After widening the runway, Malaysia Airlines made a maiden flight with a Boeing 737 in the early 1980s . Since then, the airline has operated daily flights with the same machines.
Because of its short runway, the airport was one of the most dangerous and difficult airports in the world and could only be approached with a special training and license.
There were several incidents in the late 1990s. The worst occurred on September 15, 1995. A 53-person Fokker 50 of the Malaysian Airlines (MAS) from Kota Kinabalu crashed into the Kampung Seri Menanti district at the end of the runway. 34 people, including two crew members, were killed.
The plans to build a new airport in the palm oil plantations , around 31 kilometers east of the city, were accelerated .
The new airport went into operation in December 2001. In 2003 the Malaysian Transport Minister Tun handed over to Dr. Ling Liong Sik the new airport to the public.
Airport grounds
The extensive airport area is located in the middle of palm oil plantations. The passenger building is connected to the Tawau-Semporna Highway by a three-kilometer, four-lane expressway.
The two-story passenger building is equipped with two glass passenger boarding bridges , eleven check-in counters and two baggage claim belts.
Up to seven narrow-body aircraft can park simultaneously on the rectangular apron . It is connected to the runway by two taxiways.
The airport site is planned in such a way that the infrastructural facilities can be expanded without great effort. There is space for a taxiway parallel to the runway.
Incidents
- On September 15, 1995 fell Fokker 50 of the Malaysia Airlines ( air vehicle registration 9M-MGH) during a failed go-around maneuver at the airport in Tawau populated area. The go-around had been initiated because the machine had previously only been touched down 500 meters from the runway end. Of the 53 people on board, 34 died (see also Malaysia Airlines flight 2133 ) .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Website of the airport operator
- ↑ a b c ACI ( Memento of the original from September 10, 2002) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Airport information on the official Tawau website , accessed November 14, 2011
- ^ Accident report Fokker 50 9M-MGH , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on January 6, 2019.
